Apologies were made as the over-capacity crowd was told they would have to leave the building.

A letter many of the outraged attendees had in their possession depicted the clientele of the proposed recovery house as criminals, mentally disabled, and IV drug users, warning them that they could be transgender.

The Turning Point Recovery Society wants to operate the North Shore’s first recovery house for men. They want to build it in an empty lot along Mount Seymour Parkway and residents living on Wind-ridge Drive were given notices last week. Tonight the District of North Vancouver was planning on holding a public meeting at the Parkgate Community Centre- but so many people showed up they had to cancel it because of fire code issues. They had chairs for 80 people- and more than 100 attended. This proposed facility would house nine men with substance abuse problems who want to get clean and sober. District officials told me there would be 24-hour staff on site- a zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol- and a curfew would be put in place. Source The Simi Sara Show AM980

Prior to the meeting last night, an anonymous letter was circulating around North Vancouver depicting the clientele of a proposed recovery house as criminals, mentally disabled, and IV drug users. The letter was in the hands of many of those concerned residents claims the drug and alcohol recovery house will house the homeless, who have HIV and mental disorders, and could be transgender, deaf or disabled.

Paddi Nikbin, who lives near the site, said the men-only house would bring mentally unstable, potentially violent addicts to the family-oriented community.

“A homeless person is not a resident of North Vancouver,” she said. “Homeless people can’t be residents of anywhere.”

Born into a comfortable life in Iran, Nikbin said her father made the decision to move the family to Canada so his children could grow up and have a voice.

“What I see here is you can have a voice, but nobody listens to you. . . . So what’s the difference between Iran and here?” she asked.

According Turning Point the abstinence-only zero tolerance 24 hour staffed facility will only accept applicants who do not have a violent criminal history.

Parissa Nikbin has begun a petition demanding that the recovery facility not be built near her home. At press time, the petition had 106 signatures of the 6,000 needed.